Phones have been red hot for Timo

Timo Lahti cuts inside Swindon's Troy Batchelor

The phones have been ringing off the hook for Eastbourne Eagles rider Timo Lahti after he produced two shining performances last weekend.

The Finn, who rides in reserves for the Lifestyle Eagles, top-scored in the meets against Swindon and Belle Vue on Saturday and Monday respectively.

Since then, speedway outlets from across Europe have been trying to tempt the young rider to join their leagues.

However, while Trevor Geer admits they can’t ball and chain him to the Arlington stands, they’re reluctant to let him go to countries where racing is a lot more fierce, especially after fellow Eagle Simon Gustafsson picked up an injury racing in Poland last month.

Geer said, “Timo has just got better and better with every meet. He was unbelievable this weekend and I think we truly have a star in the making.

“The phones have been red-hot for him from Poland, Denmark, Sweden, everywhere. He already rides for a Danish team, although we obviously have first call on him. Of course we don’t want him to go but we can’t stop the boy making money.”

Lahti notched up an impressive 18 points when the Eagles hosted Swindon Robins last Saturday and nearly matched it with a top score of 16 against Belle Vue two days later.

The double victory weekend made it four in a row for the Eagles as they cemented second place in the Elite League table.

And, according to Geer, the wins were exactly what they needed to keep on track for a serious title challenge this year.

“We absolutely needed that win on Monday night. It puts us in a really good position in the league now where it looks like we will secure a play-off spot.

“If we’d have lost on Monday night I think that would have been it, I don’t think we would have stood a chance.

“But we managed it, even with Lucas Dryml and Denis Gizatullin under-par. Cameron Woodard looked a lot better too, which was pleasing.

“We don’t make it easy for ourselves as we still went 10 points down before turning it around. In the end, though, I could not be more delighted with them.”

The Eagles are almost back to full-strength with Joonas Kylmakorpi inching closer to a return for the Arlington outfit.

He will ride in Poland this weekend and is due to take part in a GP qualifier at the beginning of June, hopefully giving him some match practice before he makes a reappearance in the Eagles team.

Eastbourne don’t race again until June, 2 when they host last year’s Elite League winners, the Poole Pirates.

Kylmakorpi and Gustafsson will both be unavailable for that meet due to the aforementioned GP qualifying meeting.

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